Archive for the ‘Spring time in Tucson Arizona’ Category

About 40 miles northwest of Tucson along Interstate 10. Take Exit 219 for the Picacho Peak Road.

Park day use hours are 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Admission: $7 per vehicle

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Wildflowers are on a blooming binge this week at Picacho Peak State Park northwest of Tucson.

Carpets of dazzling gold poppies play a starring role in the colorful show — but other wildflowers add their own hues to the landscape. Among them: blue lupines, orange globemallow, white desert chicory and bright yellow brittlebush.

“Beautiful!” “Awesome!” “Amazing!”

Trek one of the park’s flower-flanked trails this month, and you’re likely to hear such exclamations again and again from hikers along the way.

“It’s a rare occurrence to see this wonderful poppy bloom at Picacho Peak State Park,” said Sue Black, director of Arizona State Parks.

Aaron Soggs, manager of the park, said, “At Picacho, the rain data is showing just about 12 inches, which is the accumulated total since September of 2014. The last great year of flowers was 1998, when there was 12 inches of rain, and we are seeing the same result now with the abundance of Mexican poppies blooming.

You’ll find some expanses of poppies and other blooms in the desert area encircled by the loop drive. Try lower reaches of the Hunter Trail and the Calloway Trail for additional good wildflower displays.

The wearing of the green is nearly upon us, and so the season of green beer, bagels and milkshakes has begun. While there’s nothing particularly Irish about shamrock-shaped cookies or green-frosted cupcakes, you might be surprised to learn that the traditional St. Paddy’s meal—corned beef and cabbage—is no more authentic. Like many aspects of St. Patrick’s Day, the dish came about when Irish-Americans transformed and reinterpreted a tradition imported from the Emerald Isle.

The first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place not in Dublin but in New York City, in 1762. Over the next 100 years, Irish immigration to the United States exploded. The new wave of immigrants brought their own food traditions, including soda bread and Irish stew. Pork was the preferred meat, since it was cheap in Ireland and ubiquitous on the dinner table. The favored cut was Irish bacon, a lean, smoked pork loin similar to Canadian bacon. But in the United States, pork was prohibitively expensive for most newly arrived Irish families, so they began cooking beef—the staple meat in the American diet—instead.

So how did pork and potatoes become corned beef and cabbage? Irish immigrants to America lived alongside other “undesirable” European ethnic groups that often faced discrimination in their new home, including Jews and Italians. Members of the Irish working class in New York City frequented Jewish delis and lunch carts, and it was there that they first tasted corned beef. Cured and cooked much like Irish bacon, it was seen as a tasty and cheaper alternative to pork. And while potatoes were certainly available in the United States, cabbage offered a more cost-effective alternative to cash-strapped Irish families. Cooked in the same pot, the spiced, salty beef flavored the plain cabbage, creating a simple, hearty dish that couldn’t be easier to prepare.

After taking off among New York City’s Irish community, corned beef and cabbage found fans across the country. It was the perfect dish for everyone from harried housewives to busy cooks on trains and in cafeterias—cheap, easy to cook and hard to overcook. It was even served alongside mock turtle coup at President Lincoln’s inauguration dinner in 1862.

Far from being as Irish as a shamrock field, this St. Patrick’s Day classic is as American as apple pie.

Desert Dove will be serving something green for breakfast! Our popular Spinach Egg Nests, and some yummy Irish Soda Bread!

The annual Tucson Festival of Books will be held Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the campus of the University of Arizona. The festival features more than 350 authors and panelists, 250 exhibitors, and opportunities to meet famous authors, poets, writers and journalists. There will be book signings, panel discussions, live entertainment, food vendors, children’s activities, Science City, and dozens of free activities for all ages. Admission is free and both Sun Link and Sun Tran provide stops within a short walk of the festival. Sun Link will be kicking off the Festival of Books with an onboard reading by award winning children’s author, Conrad Storad, on Saturday, March 12 at 10 a.m. Storad will begin his reading at the Avenida del Convento stop (across from Mercado San Agustin) and will exit at the University of Arizona to participate in the Festival of Books at the Children’s Storyteller

We have great birding here at Desert Dove Bed & Breakfast. Click on Desert Dove to see just a few of our birds. All the pictures were taken on our property.

If you wish a personal birding guide, Melody is the one to call. Take a look at her website. You can call Melody or send her an email to set up the day and time. She will pick you up here at Desert Dove and experience a wonderful birding adventure!

Spring in the desert is a wonderful time. What a pleasure taking in all the sights and sounds the desert has to offer!

The Ocotillo Cactus are blooming in the Sonoran Desert. Here at Desert Dove, we have several Ocotillo blooming. Take a drive through the Saguaro National Park to see the desert in bloom. It’s only one fourth mile from Desert Dove Bed & Breakfast

After a few days of cooler weather, we can now say it feels like spring. Spring has officially begun and the weather is beautiful! Stretch your legs with a walk through the gardens at Tohono Chul Park and Tucson Botanical Gardens

Our guests at Desert Dove get to enjoy both of these wonderful parks, along with the desert garden right here! Butterflies, hummingbirds, wildflowers. Such a relaxing and fun visit for our Tucson guests.

Tucson Botanical Gardens and enjoy the colorful blooms. All of the butterflies in the Gardens’ exhibit are hatched from eggs and live as caterpillars in butterfly farms in tropical parts of the world. When the caterpillars change into the pupae or resting stage, they are carefully counted, labeled and packed. In the pupae stage of the butterfly life cycle, no food is required so they can survive the two or three day trip to Tucson. Once they arrive at the Gardens they are housed in a climate controlled environment which allows them to emerge naturally from their pupae. They are then transferred to the Greenhouse where they are released to fly free in a beautiful tropical environment.

The wildflowers in Tucson and surrounding areas are blooming. Get the latest information on wildflowers, click on wildflowers. The staff at Saguaro National Park have spotted Poppies, Lupine, Jewelflower and Penstemon). We have Penstemon blooming in our desert garden and along the garden pathway.